William Townly, Somerset – 1720
£5,850.00
A remarkably original early 18th century Somerset clock, the brass dial signed in a confident flourished script which fills the centre, enclosed by a broad chapter ring engraved with lozenge-shaped half-hour markers. The engraving is crisp and assured,
The movement is of notably honest construction, with crisp wheel-work and a characteristically West Country one-piece posted frame: the pillars formed as a single frame standing on four fine, dainty feet—a detail strongly associated with Somerset/Bristol practice. The escapement remains the original verge, here observed beating 152 per minute, a pleasing survival which speaks to the clock’s integrity and the absence of later “improving” interventions.
Housed in its case with good, even patination, the whole presents as an unusually coherent survivor: a clock whose interest lies not only in its regional identity and fine engraved dial, but also in the preservation of its early working format—verge escapement, untouched frame architecture, and a general sharpness of execution that repays close inspection. (For context on the Townly wider footprint in the district, see the Temple Cloud attribution of c.1724 work and the noted links between Temple Cloud and Flax Bourton makers in later horological literature.)
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